A US Republican congresswoman has apologised after being kicked out of a performance of the family-friendly musical Beetlejuice for vaping and allegedly groping her date.
Lauren Boeber and an accompanying male guest were escorted from the theatre for vaping, recording video and disturbing other patrons on Sept 10. A video also showed them appearing to grope one another while in their seats.
CCTV footage showed Ms Boebert touching her guest’s groin, while he fondled her breasts during the Sunday performance.
The congresswoman for Colarado, aged 36, had initially denied she had been vaping, but surveillance footage obtained by a Denver television station showed otherwise.
On Twitter, she wrote last week that she “[pleaded] guilty to laughing and singing too loud!”
A patron of the theatre reportedly confronted Ms Boebert and asked her to stop vaping. Ms Boebert is said to have refused.
“These people in front of us were outrageous,” the unnamed woman said to the New York Post. “I’ve never seen anyone act like that before.”
Argumentative
According to a report of the confrontation from theatre security, Ms Boebert and her guest also became argumentative. “Do you know who I am?” the congresswoman allegedly asked.
On Friday evening, Ms Boebert – whose disruptive antics and extreme rhetoric have earned her a cult following on the Right – changed tack and apologised for her behaviour.
“The past few days have been difficult and humbling, and I’m truly sorry for the unwanted attention my Sunday evening in Denver has brought to the community,” said Ms Boebert, a mother of four boys.
She added that her “public and difficult divorce” has created a “challenging personal time for me and my entire family”. “I’ve tried to handle it with strength and grace as best I can, but I simply fell short of my values on Sunday,” Ms Boebert said.
Ms Boebert added that she would have to work hard to earn back the trust from voters in her district.
But that may be a difficult feat; Ms Boebert won re-election in 2022 by just 546 votes.
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